I like to read and mostly it’s kids books since I read out-loud to my kids constantly. But occasionally, in-between writing tasks, I like to read my stuff.
So, I picked up Glenn Beck’s Broke at Sam’s Club the other day and have been devouring it ever since. It’s a sobering look at where our country is heading financially due to our out of control spending and enormous debt.
If you read nothing else, I would recommend the chapter on religion. It reads like a summation of Isaiah’s Bible Study so far.
First line of Chapter Fifteen: When was the last time you trembled while thinking about God?
Here are some of my favorite highlights from the chapter:
God expects us to take care of the gifts we are given.
We are broke because we are broken.
Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for a government of any other. John Adams
A republic can only function if a specific percentage of the population is virtuous. But virtue requires morality and morality requires religion.
“Faith is more than just a belief in a specific religious doctrine; it’s something that fills us from the inside. It makes us whole. If you strip that away, something has to fill the void.” P. 252
The void is meant to be filled by God (my addition.).
This last one hit me hard. Straight from the Notes on Isaiah Lesson 7: All sinful acts find their origin in the sin of refusing to acknowledge God as the Supreme Authority in one’s life. God has created each human being with a void that must be filled by something or someone outside of himself or herself. Failure to look to God to fill that void will result in looking elsewhere.
I was a fan of Glenn Beck before but now I’m an ubber-fan. I wonder if he does BSF? Or maybe his wife?
Broke is a great book to get you inspired and remind you of our revolutionary roots. It gives me hope that I can make a difference in our backwards world. It is chalked full of history lessons I never learned and facts about the economy that no one else will tell you. It’s sobering, scary, and heart-wrenching. It’s eye-opening and informing. It’s encouraging and just plain good.
It emphasized the primacy of religion in our founders’ lives and its indispensability in the governance of our country. Remember the Pilgrims? People risked their lives to come to America just to worship the God of their choice–Yahweh. Everything comes back to God.
You are reminded of what made this country great and how it can be that once again. And God plays a big role in our survival.